Flavoring a large amount of rum

[UtahViking]

OK so I have seen variations of basically this recipe.

1 (750-mL) bottle Rum
1 Vanilla bean
1 (3-inch) slice Orange peel, white pith removed
1 Cinnamon stick
2 Allspice berries
4 Cloves
6 Black peppercorns
pinch Ground nutmeg
1 slice Fresh ginger, about the size of a quarter

So a gallon has 3785.411 ml in it and I have 2 gallons

Meaning I have 7570.882 ml

7570.882/750=10.09

So I would multiply all the ingredients by 10.

Is it just me does that seem like an awful lot? I mean 60 black peppercorns? Talk about spicy.

I know this all comes down to personal taste but I want to start from the best place I can and don't want to ruin a nice batch of third generation rum. Any ideas on how to tweak this or if my math sucks let me know.

Thanks in advance

[Jimbo]

whoa, way too much, IMO. I use a similar recipe, less vanilla, per 3 fifths of rum. And 1 oz panela per fifth to backsweeten a bit. Turns out great. It started a a quart, and it was too heavy, I kept watering it down with white rum and at 3 fifths it was delicious. Here's my recipe http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 4#p7063906

[UtahViking]

Exactly what I was thinking. I have the ability and the desire to age it all together at once , so that's why I'm trying to get this figured out for 2 gallons. Any more ideas on how to adjust this?

[ipee7ABV]

i think you would do it like oak. less oak more time. just use the 750 recipie and if it isnt what you want after a month do it agian

[UtahViking]

I thought about it overnight and I'm thinking I will do double or triple the 750 recipe and then taste it after a few weeks. I'm going to oak it as well.

[UtahViking]

So here is what I ended up with

4 vanilla beans sliced n scraped
10 cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
6 all spice berries
20 black peppercorns
3 pinches of nutmeg
4 slices of fresh ginger
4 strips of orange zest

2 oz dark toast oak
2 oz light toast oak

[Jimbo]

How much hooch at what % ?

Thats a lot of vanilla. I have a bottle of neutral with 3 beans in that I have as vanilla extract, and use only a few drops in food.

[UtahViking]

Its 2 gallons at 50%

[Jimbo]

Oh thats a good bit. Sounds delicious, let us know how she tastes after soaking for a spell.

[UtahViking]

Anyone else wanna chime in?

[frozenthunderbolt]

I'de be REAL careful with the cloves; the can make your hooch taste like cough medicine pretty damn fast - i'd be inclined to pull most of them out, just leave one, two tops.

[Jimbo]

Just for reference on the vanilla beans. 2 beans in 5 gallons Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Porter beer adds a very noticable vanilla hit. And thats over lots going on in the beer, oak, hops, grains etc.

[ipee7ABV]

I'de be REAL careful with the cloves; the can make your hooch taste like cough medicine pretty damn fast - i'd be inclined to pull most of them out, just leave one, two tops.

i am not a clove fan. just too over powering

[UtahViking]

Its been going just over 24 hours and as I gave it its daily stir I tasted it and honestly its not to shabby. I think you guys might be right on the cloves though. I think I might give it one more day then filter it and try to get as much of the Clove out as possible then let it sit a total of 2 weeks on the spices then filter. Pick out the oak and put it back in for about a month or so then final filter it and let it sit a few more months.

I like vanilla flavors so if I don't get enough I may add a little extract. The beans are just to damn expensive. $24 for 4 beans!

[UtahViking]

Just filtered it off and picked out as much of the clove as I could find. Kinda hard to find it mixed with the wood chips. While I was at it I poured off a finger on ice. Getting plenty of vanilla smells and flavors and the citrus is starting to come through. I'm really thinking that this is going to turn out fantastic once it gets diluted down to 80 proof. 100 proof is just a bit much for it

[F6Hawk]

Sounds good thus far!! Just got my panela today, plan to start a rum wash SOON!!

[Jimbo]

I like vanilla flavors so if I don't get enough I may add a little extract. The beans are just to damn expensive. $24 for 4 beans!

You apparently like your vanilla on 10,000, so amp away, but buy them here, 11.45 delivered for 16 beans http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Bourbon-M ... 945&sr=1-7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow I bought these, they're terrific. There's bigger packages too, 54 beans for $27 etc.

I put 1/2 oz of extract in a fifth of bourbon, an extract I made with 3 beans in 375ml (12.5oz). So it works out to 1/8th bean per fifth of bourbon. And I wouldnt want any more vanilla flavor. I said be careful below, but you talk about adding even more on top of the 4 beans in 2 gallons Be careful or youll be drinking vanilla extract. Just my $0.02

[F6Hawk]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054S ... UTF8&psc=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow with free shipping (USA).

NEVER pay the premium price for grade A beans if infusing them... Grade B will provide just as much flavor!

[UtahViking]

Awesome thanks for the links guys I can always count on HD. I would have searched for discount vanilla beans if I had any idea that they were so expensive but on the day I went looking I just had to suck it up and buy them because I needed to get it going and already had all the other ingredients.

And yeah my wife and I love vanilla stuff so we tend to turn the vanilla up to 11 lol

[UtahViking]

Been 1 week and it just keeps getting better. I think I have decided to use a little less molasses next time though

[UtahViking]

Update time. I filtered off all the flavoring and set it up for some long term aging on just the oak. That's the plan anyway....I just can't seem to stay out of it! Holy crap its good! Smells amazing tastes even better even at 100 proof its very smooth when mixed with coke or my favorite Dr pepper. Anyway I'm gonna need to make something else so I stay out of this stuff....banana rum anyone?